Tonight is the longest night, with the winter solstice occurring early tomorrow morning. My church had a solstice-themed lay-led service this morning, and also this evening. I attended both, via Zoom of course. The evening ritual was up against the monthly barony meeting, but after all the stress our congregation has been through during the past ( Read more... )

Yesterday the 18-year-old thermostat broke when we were switching off the A/C so we could open the windows for a bit (due to the nice fall weather). Of course, the A/C doesn't work at all without some sort of controller, and it gets stuffy in here at night with the windows closed. So today we went to Lowe's and got a new thermostat, a basic $20 ( Read more... )

I didn't get the car that I looked at on Sunday afternoon. It was a nice 2003 PT Cruiser, clean and running well, just needed a new O2 sensor. But I said it would have taken me a couple of days to round up the cash, and some guy came by on Sunday evening and said "yes" to the car (and probably whipped out a bunch of C-notes ( Read more... )

I'm out of Facebook jail! Yay ( Read more... )

So, the holidays are in full swing around here. Last night was the annual "holiday gala" held by my local professional group. About 150 people showed up at the social event, which was at a small science museum near the Judiciary Square Metro. I had a great time checking in with my professional friends and acquaintances, and meeting a few new faces ( Read more... )

Wow, one week from today will be a big day -- the latest royal wedding and the launch of the shuttle Endeavour. I'm tempted to wake up early enough to see the former, or at least to turn on the VCR (yes, I still have one) in case I fall asleep. I did not own a TV when Charles and Di married in July 1981 -- I was just out of college and living in a ( Read more... )

OK, my heart will always be with the Boston Red Sox -- it's in my DNA -- but my head says it would be great to have a viable National League team in DC. Well, tonight was the major-league debut of this young Nationals "phenom," Stephen Strasburg, on the pitching mound for DC. I've been hearing about this guy for months while he was being groomed in ( Read more... )

A big tip of the Happy Birthday Hat to theodosia and cowgrrl!!!!!! Felicitations and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous year!!!!Your birthday buddy is the son of a couple of SCAdian friends; he is 1 year old today. His parents are planning "half-birthday" celebrations on future June 26ths ( Read more... )

Last night I went to my final board meeting for my local professional group. I'm still going to belong to the group, of course, and have done so since 1995. But I was on the board for six years, and for three of those years I served as membership chairperson. In the future, the group will try to limit board terms to three years ( Read more... )

What was most annoying about having to stay late to do membership database stuff last night was that when I logged off, the RED Sox were ahead 4-1 ... but by the time I ate dinner, Metroed home, and got in my car, the WHITE Sox had won, 5-4 ( Read more... )